MovieChat Forums > Who'll Stop the Rain (1978) Discussion > Ray Sharkey

Ray Sharkey

posted 14 years ago by WarpedRecord
2 replies | jump to latest

The character of Smitty is particularly interesting in light of Ray Sharkey's struggles with heroin and cocaine. I have to say I suspect he was on something when he made this, or may he was just that convincing.

Regardless, he was a superb actor whose vices got the best of him, and he left us too soon. This film and "The Idolmaker" are proof of the talent he had – and what more he could have done had he lived longer.

[–] Zando777 13 years ago

Which again makes me wonder why anyone would ever start doing Heroin. (Or even Cocaine, really.) Are they really that ignorant?

[–] buby1987 13 years ago

I was struck by Sharkey's talent when I first saw Who'll Stop the Rain, and I followed his career from then on. He was clearly an excellent actor whose life and career were tragically cut short.

Sharkey did a great job of capturing the weakness and insecurity beneath the thuggish facade of his character.